Danielle Frappier – E-Rate Law Advisorhttps://www.eratelaw.com
Latest News & Legal Commentary on the E-Rate ProgramThu, 14 Feb 2019 20:26:04 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10E-rate for Both Categories 1 and 2 To Be Fully Funded in the 2018 Funding Yearhttps://www.eratelaw.com/2018/08/e-rate-for-both-categories-1-and-2-to-be-fully-funded-in-the-2018-funding-year/
https://www.eratelaw.com/2018/08/e-rate-for-both-categories-1-and-2-to-be-fully-funded-in-the-2018-funding-year/#respondWed, 22 Aug 2018 16:56:45 +0000https://www.eratelaw.com/?p=1412Continue Reading]]>On August 17, 2018, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced that once again, there will be sufficient funding to meet applicant demand for both Category 1 services (such as broadband services) and Category 2 equipment and services (such as managed Wi-Fi and equipment) for the 2018 funding year, which began on July 1, 2018.

The total demand for the funding year is estimated to be $2.7 billion—well below the $4 billion cap for funding year 2018. There also remains $1.2 billion in unused funds from prior years, which will likely continue to be rolled over to subsequent years given the projected demand for this year. Demand for funding for schools to construct and operate their own networks through the deployment of dark fiber has been much lower than what was anticipated by the FCC. This was not necessarily a surprise to those in the industry, however, who understood that schools and libraries were not necessarily equipped to manage complex communications networks.

What was not widely anticipated when the FCC adopted the second E-rate modernization order in 2014, is that the demand for Category 2 funding has turned out to be relatively low and it has declined over time. USAC has estimated that most of the demand for funding year 2018, or just over $2 billion, is for Category 1 services, compared to only $745 million for Category 2. Given that Category 2 includes managed Wi-Fi services, there were concerns in 2014 that the introduction of funding for such services would outstrip program resources. Yet requests for Category 1 requests have consistently exceeded those for Category 2 funding since the order was adopted, with the total Category 2 requests declining each year.

]]>https://www.eratelaw.com/2018/08/e-rate-for-both-categories-1-and-2-to-be-fully-funded-in-the-2018-funding-year/feed/0FCC Seeks Comment on Sufficiency of Category 2 Budgets and E-rate Administration Generallyhttps://www.eratelaw.com/2017/09/fcc-seeks-comment-on-sufficiency-of-category-2-budgets-and-e-rate-administration-generally/
https://www.eratelaw.com/2017/09/fcc-seeks-comment-on-sufficiency-of-category-2-budgets-and-e-rate-administration-generally/#respondWed, 27 Sep 2017 14:52:11 +0000http://www.eratelaw.com/?p=1357Continue Reading]]>Late last Friday, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on whether the per-student and per-square footage budgets set for E-rate Category 2 funding are sufficient. The FCC established budgets of $150 per student for schools, and a budget of $2.30 or $5.00 per square foot for libraries (depending on location) to be spent over the course of five years in its 2014 Second E-rate Modernization Order. Category 2 funding may be used to purchase on-premise communications equipment, but was also expanded in the FCC’s 2014 modernization proceeding to fund Wi-Fi services within in a school or library building in an significant expansion of the E-rate program. Category 1 funding, in contrast, is reserved for bringing connectivity from the outside community to the school or library. The Order directed the Bureau to report prior to the commencement of the 2019 E-rate funding year whether the Category 2 budgets were sufficient to increase access to funding for such equipment and services by schools and libraries.

In addition to asking whether the current budget levels are sufficient, the notice also seeks comments on whether there is a better budgeting mechanism than per-student or per-square footage measurements. In 2014 when the FCC was formulating its modernization agenda for the E-rate program, Chairman Pai had strongly criticized the lack of control by local school and library representatives over how E-rate funding was used. It may be that he is now looking for a way to provide E-rate recipients much greater flexibility to purchase according to locally-determined priorities rather than based on the funding allocations and budgets assigned to the FCC-managed Categories 1 and 2.

The notice also invites commenters to provide feedback on their experiences with the E-rate program more generally, including their experiences with the E-rate Productivity Center (“EPC”) system. E-rate participants as well as Chairman Pai have been highly critical of the EPC, which the Chairman said has “created major headaches for applicants requesting E-Rate funding.”

Comments on the Bureau’s notice are due by October 23, 2017, and replies are due by November 7, 2017.

]]>https://www.eratelaw.com/2017/09/fcc-seeks-comment-on-sufficiency-of-category-2-budgets-and-e-rate-administration-generally/feed/0The Draft 2018 ESL is out for Public Comment — FCC Seeks Comment on Category One Funding for Certain Equipment and Wiringhttps://www.eratelaw.com/2017/06/the-draft-2018-esl-is-out-for-public-comment-fcc-seeks-comment-on-category-one-funding-for-certain-equipment-and-wiring/
https://www.eratelaw.com/2017/06/the-draft-2018-esl-is-out-for-public-comment-fcc-seeks-comment-on-category-one-funding-for-certain-equipment-and-wiring/#respondThu, 22 Jun 2017 19:35:56 +0000http://www.eratelaw.com/?p=1349Continue Reading]]>The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau just released the draft eligible services list (“ESL”) for E-rate funding to be used to determine the eligibility of services and equipment for the 2018-2019 funding year, which will start on July 1, 2018. There are two issues in particular that the Bureau seeks comment on.

Previously, the ESL had made Category One E-rate funding available for equipment necessary for a Category One broadband service to function. The draft 2018 ESL seeks comment on a new, proposed clarification that if the equipment has both Category One and Category Two functionalities and it is connected to a Category Two local area network (“LAN”), the test of whether the equipment is eligible for Category One is whether it is necessary for the Category One broadband service to function and whether the price just for that equipment cannot be isolated. If the equipment’s pricing cannot be isolated, and it is necessary for the Category One broadband service to function, would the equipment be fully funded under Category One. The fact that it is connected to the LAN alone does not disqualify it from Category One funding.

The draft ESL also seeks comment on whether to make permanent the Bureau’s waiver that permitted different schools physically housed in the same building to receive Category One funding for inside wiring for funding year 2017. Traditionally, inside wiring was available only for Category Two funding, which, of course, is subject to per student budget caps.

Comments on the draft ESL are due July 21, 2017, and replies are due August 7, 2017.